According to a report from the Washington Post, Republican election officials in states that are currently starting up 2020 presidential vote audits of their own or are considering initiating one, are having second thoughts after the embarrassing end of the Maricopa County, Arizona audit that seemed to show that President Joe Biden won by a larger margin than first reported.
The Arizona audit, conducted by the pro-Donald Trump Cyber Ninjas, was supposed to turn up evidence of voter fraud that would not only flip the state to Trump, but would also be used as proof that the election may have been stolen from the Republican candidate.
That not only failed to come to pass, but Biden picked up more votes while Trump lost votes, and that has led to some questioning about the costs of going forward with their own audit as well as the damage another flop would do the reputation of the Republican Party.
According to the Post's Amy Gardener, "A GOP-commissioned report that did not find evidence of fraud-tainted Arizona's 2020 election has intensified the fight over similar partisan ballot reviews in Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin, with former president Donald Trump pressing for such examinations and Democrats stepping up their efforts to block them."
The report goes on to note that it is not only Democrats who are opposing what could be another debacle for Trump but also state GOP officials who are even more skeptical after the Arizona flop.
According to Rohn Bishop, county GOP chairman in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, the results of the Arizona audit made the GOP look foolish.
"Eventually, you have to find fraud, and they haven't," Bishop raged. "Are we going to be a serious political party that tries to win an election, or are we going to keep talking about these kooky, fringe audits?"
"It's bat-poop crazy. And 2022 should be a very good year for us. Basically, this election is ours to lose — if we're not stupid about it," he added before conceding, "Trump is still very influential. If Trump comes in and makes an endorsement in a primary, it's a big deal. We're kind of in a conundrum right now, where you can't win with him and you can't win without him."
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